tapdancingtommy

Can’t wait for this one- looking for a new local coop game!

Would purchase immediately if there was a physical.

Something about the presentation and visuals just feels so bland and lackluster. And gameplay-wise, seems like there isn’t anything of note that hasn’t been done decades earlier.

Also PSA if you buy this game, you must put the joycon2s in horizontal solo mode, to trigger mouse mode. The game isn’t super clear about this.

@rjejr no split screen

@ATMVF Mouse controls work well! Not quite as smooth as the switch dashboard menu, but they work.

There just isn’t much “game” to speak of here, it’s almost more like a tech demo, but for $7, it’s whatever.

Here’s a video I just uploaded that shows them off:

https://youtu.be/BzzCj0ZI4eU?si=R60GsPAgujxJZWgs

@LPB I figured it out after about an hour- You have to start the game in joycon solo horizontal mode, and then it will trigger mouse mode.

Very janky, but that’s how to do it.

So I just got this, but how do you use mouse controls?? It doesn’t seem to work with them?

I’m stunned someone would give this game an 8! I just played through the Xbox version, and it’s incredibly shallow for the price tag.

72 levels, all of which feel extremely similar to one another, and an endless mode.

That’s it, that’s the game.

It controls as well as you would expect for a control stick with a sensitivity slider, but some might not like that, although it didn’t bother me.

My main gripe is how shallow it is- the gameplay never really evolves from the first levels and has almost zero replayability. No challenges, no real goals, no depth.

Looks pretty though, but the ambient music is not nearly as good as advertised.

Complete miss on the Calico game, released towards the end of the month, and an excellent digital recreation of the popular board game

@Solomon_Rambling
Unfortunately your dealbreakers might make this one a tough sell. Performance is not good and the level design is definitely repetitive, but for us, the charm and concept outweighed those things.

Some of my “hidden gems” this year:

Quilts and Cats of Calico- Official digital adaptation of the popular board game, Calico released in December. Fantastic.

River Tails Stronger Together- A co-op adventure game that is a bit rough around the edges, but we had a ton of fun with it.

Cat Quest 3- Maybe not as “hidden,” but one of the best coop games of the year.

Some other hidden ones that are good, but not gems per say:

Nikoderiko- A crash/donkey Kong platformer that while derivative, is pretty good.

Smurfs Dreams- A rare licensed tie-in that is actually decent.

Or you can buy the Asia standard release (w/ English), for only $37.99, and it releases in September and not December.

https://www.play-asia.com/lollipop-chainsaw-repop-multi-language/13/70hci5

@rjejr

1. Unfortunately I don’t have the steam version- I played through the campaign on co-op with a couple of pro controllers!

2. Depends on your skill level- I played through it with my SO and some parts/levels took us awhile to get through, upwards of an hour at times. Where a couple experienced gamers could get through those same sections in 15 mins. But with the search for all the rainbow birds, it would probably be about 8-10 hours to get everything. For us it was considerably more.

Just finished my review of this for anyone who is curious- we played through it all weekend, and it's easily my favorite local co-op game of the year so far. It could use a little technical polish, and a couple platforming sections were a little clunky, but outside of that, I LOVED everything about it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nswv1BTsRaY&ab_channel=ObscuristGaming

You guys missed out on Ready, Steady, Ship! A fun little couch co-op game that’s a solid 8/10.

How does the online aspect work? I haven’t seen any reviews comment on the online multiplayer…

@-wc- Very very fair. The scam that was Sports Story, and how Nintendo promoted it for years, should make everyone wary of any shadow drops. I just don’t want people thinking this is remotely close to that.

@-wc- This is not the disaster that was Sports Story, and is perfectly playable. It could just use some polish for sure.

The game is landing between an 7.0 and an 8.5, but all reviewers are saying a lot of the same thing.

Conceptually the game is interesting and unique, and the gameplay mechanics are fun when they work.

But there’s a few dud levels and bosses, sometimes the camera messes with depth perception, and there’s a general lack of polish leading to clipping and soft locks.

I would describe it as a Nintendo-quality idea with a Sega-quality execution, fairly priced at $30 for those who like 3D platformers, even if it could use some cleaning up.

https://youtu.be/W4l_oyWn7zQ

You’re missing some key ones better than some on this list:

Spiritfarer
Good Job!
Ship of Fools
Keywe
Vitamin Connection

Yikes… we’ll call this a backlog month, which is needed anyways.

Happy to say I’m not interested in really anything here- maybe finally time to eat through some of the backlog.

Really surprised to not see Give Me Toilet Paper! on this list. Easily the most inventive title for Switch of 2023.

The reviews so far are all over the place. Noisy Pixel gave it a 3/10, but I’ve also seen 6.5/10 from Press Start and 9/10 from GameSpew.

Seems like it’ll be a love/hate kind of experience, depending on your preferences.

@imgrowinglegs Really? Interesting… I guess I disagree with that sentiment, but good to know.

Weird way to review this game by also claiming 2023 has been a year of greats, which simply is not true.

Nintendo did their thing as usual, but definitely an end-of-console year for all other publishers/developers, indie or otherwise, especially compared to some other Switch “years.”

That being said, I’m super excited for Dave the Diver after this review, and I really hope a physical version comes out.

I think this review misses the mark some. It’s not perfect but the game is a ton of fun, and easily the best football game for a Nintendo console since the Gamecube days.

https://youtu.be/F08wkUeoY-M?si=9Vof2ss8rkDlGzKK

There are a lot of life-sim/farming games coming out in the next couple months… they are probably better off delaying it (Fae Farm, Paleo Pines, Harvest Moon, etc. as well as physical versions of Farm Together, Everdream Valley, and Bear & Breakfast).

Still with how glitchy/buggy the original was, this is concerning to me. I hope they haven’t bitten off more than they can chew.

@RainbowGazelle Don’t play it off like that… That is not remotely what you said. You called out the website in the most jerk way possible.

Learn to be a helpful contributor and not an ***hole. Believe it or not, that is possible.

@RainbowGazelle Are you ok man?

Disappointed not to see Ship of Fools here, easily one of the best, if not the best, co-op games of the year.

Wonderful art, full original soundtrack, and charming characters all combine to make it an underrated gem.

Goal is to finish Ship of Fools… a very underrated couch co-op that released a couple weeks ago.

Ship of Fools was easily the best eShop game of the month… sad it wasn’t listed here anywhere.

This is a huge ripoff of Runbow.

I took a blind chance on PAKO caravan, and it's not a bad little distraction, even if it is not very deep:

https://youtu.be/_RzD6LXXswo

You're missing Farm Together, which is more polished than half the games on this list.

@NotoriousWhiz

Yeah the Hori wheel with pedals works great! It sounds like now they’re adding in an official controller scheme for it though so you don’t have to remap buttons and such.

I can’t speak to your other questions though as I only have 1 Switch.

For as fun as Super Mega Baseball 3 is, I can’t help but think more should have been done between 2 and 3. Franchise mode is great, but still feel like it’s missing some online sharing tools, or an additional mode or two like a Home Run Derby.

Those gripes aside, it is the best arcade/sim hybrid baseball game of the last decade, and you can’t go wrong with it.

@ItsOKToBeOK

Wow this is so incredibly inaccurate lol. Animal Crossing has been a way bigger deal than both Luigi’s mansion and Splatoon, it’s not even close. All great games, so not knocking those franchises, but it sounds like you only accounted for Nintendo since 2018 and not the last two decades lol.

Anyways like I said before, we’re looking at 30 million copies sold by the end of the year. More power to them!

The appeal of Animal Crossing is so universal, to traditional gamers and non-gamers alike, that we're looking at 30 Million copies sold by the end of the year if you combine physical and digital.

It's a phenomenon right now.

Not that anyone cares but me, but the physical edition of AO Tennis 2 in the US releases in mid-February. And the first week of February in the UK.

It's actually a solid tennis game, with great improvements over the first one (released on steam a couple weeks ago).

I have had the pro version since launch, and can answer any questions people have on it.

I can personally confirm that it works with GRID, WRC 8, V-rally 4, Fast RMX and Crash/Sonic. Including analog foot pedals where appropriate. It had seven different settings for sensitivity and dead zone, as well as the ability to remap buttons as needed. It's feels great, but I'd only recommend the clamp method and not the suction cups when playing.

I can confirm it does not work with Asphalt 8 or Trials.

If anyone is wondering, the new Mario Kart Wheel Deluxe from Hori (reviewed on here a couple days ago) works perfectly with this game, including Analog pedals.

Physical release would be awesome.